Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament

10 Fixed the forms (?)1 of heaven and earth,

And to the hands of the great gods entrusted (them,)

To create the day and to renew the month, as signs for mankind;

(Men) saw Shamash in the gate of his going forth

In the midst of heaven and earth they commanded2 him faithfully.

1 The word is doubtful in meaning. King translates "bounds"; Ungnad, "Bilder."

2 The signification here is uncertain. King translates "created"; Ungnad, "erglänzen."

10 ušurâti šamê(e) u irșitim (tim) iš-ku-nu

a-na kâtê ilâni rabûti u-kin-nu

û-mu ba-na-a arha ud-du-šu ittati1

a-me-lut-tum (ilu) Šamaš ina libbi bâb așî-šu i-mu-ru
ki-rib šamê(e) u irṣitim (tim) ki-niš uš-ta-mu-u

1 nig-igi-tah.

5. ANOTHER VERSION OF THE CREATION OF THE WORLD BY MARDUK

(SO-CALLED "BILINGUAL OF CREATION")1

This interesting text formed merely the introduction to an incantation which was intended to be recited in honor of Ezida, the great temple of Nabû at Borsippa" (King). It was found, in 1882, in the ruins of AbuHabba by Hormuzd Rassam, and is preserved both in Sumerian and in Assyrian. Though so different from the main story of the creation, it belongs to the same set of political ideas which made use of ancient religious material to justify the position of Marduk at the head of the Babylonian pantheon.

1 The text is published by King, in Cuneiform Texts, xiii, pp. 35ff. It is translated by Pinches, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, xxiii (new series), pp. 393ff.; Zimmern, in Gunkel's Schöpfung und Chaos, pp. 419f.; Jensen, Keilinschrijuiche Bibliothek, vi, p. 38f.; King, The Seven Tablets of Creation, i, pp. 130ff.; Dhorme, Choix de Textes Religieux AssyroBabyloniens, pp. 83ff.; Winckler, Keilinschriftliches Textbuch zum Alten Testament, 3te Auf., pp. 91, 92; Ungnad, in Gressmann, Altorientalische Texte und Bilder, i, pp. 27, 28.

The holy house, the house of the gods, in the holy

place had not yet been made;

No reed had sprung up, no tree had been created.
No brick had been laid, no mould had been fashioned,
No house had been made, no city had been built;

5 No city had been made, no creature had been established.

Nippur had not been made, E-kur had not been built;

Erech had not been made, E-ana had not been built; The Deep had not been made, Eridu had not been built;

The holy house, the house of the gods, the dwelling had not been made,

10 All lands were sea.

When the middle of the sea was a water basin;

In those days Eridu was made, E-sagil was built,
E-sagil, where in the midst of the deep the god
Lugal-dul-azaga dwelt,

Babylon was made, and E-sagil was finished,

15 The gods, the Anunaki, he made at one time; The holy city, the dwelling of the heart's desire, they proclaimed supreme.

bîtu el-lim bît ilâni ina aš-ri el-lim ul e-pu-uš1

ka-nu-u ul a-și i-și ul ba-ni

li-bit-ti ul na-da-at na-al-ban-ti2 ul ba-na-at

bîtu ul e-pu-uš alu ul ba-ni

5 alu ul e-pu-uš nam-maš-šu-u ul ša-kin
Ni-ip-pu-ru ul e-pu-uš e-kur ul ba-ni
U-ruk ul e-pu-uš e-an-na ul ba-ni
ap-su-u ul e-pu-[uš] Eridu ul ba-ni
bitu el-lum bît ilâni šu-bat-su ul ip-še-it

10 nap-har ma-ta-a-tu tam-tum-ma

i-nu ša ki-rib tam-tim ra-tu-um-ma

ina û-mi-šu Eridu e-pu-uš E-sag-ila ba-ni

[E-sag-ilja ša ina ki-rib ap-si-i ilu Lugal-dul-azag-ga ir-mu-u Babilu (ki) e-pu-[uš] E-sag-ila šuk-lul

15 ilâni (ilu) A-nun-na-ki mit-ha-riš i-pu-uš

alu el-lum šu-bat țu-ub lib-bi-šu-nu și-riš im-bu-u

1 The Sumerian text has been omitted.

Compare 2 Sam. 12. 31 Q. Nah. 3. 14.

Marduk laid a reed-work1 upon the face of the waters, He formed dust and poured it out upon the reedwork.

To cause the gods to dwell in a habitation of their heart's desire,

20 He formed mankind.

The goddess Aruru, with him, created the seed of mankind,

The beasts of the field and living things in the field he created.

He created the Tigris and the Euphrates, and set them in their place,

Their names he did well declare.

25 The grass, the rush of the marsh, the reed, and the forest he created,

The green herb of the field he created,

The lands, the marshes, and the swamps;

The wild cow and her young, the wild calf; the ewe

and her young, the lamb of the fold;

Gardens and forests;

30 The he-goat and the mountain goat

him.

The lord Marduk filled in a dam by the side of the

(ilu) Marduk a-ma-am ina pa-an me-e ir-ku-us e-pi-ri ib-ni-ma it-ti a-mi iš-pu-uk

ilani ina šu-bat tu-ub lib-bi ana šu-šu-bi

20 a-me-lu-ti ib-ta-ni

(ilu) A-ru-ru zi-ir a-me-lu-ti it-ti-šu ib-ta-nu

bu-ul şêri ši-kin na-piš-ti ina și-e-ri ib-ta-ni

(nâru) Diglat u (nâru) Purattu ib-ni-ma aš-ri iš-ku-un

šum-ši-na ta-biš im-bi

25 uš-šu di-it-ta ap-pa-ri ka-na-a u ķi-šu ib-ta-ni

ur-ki-it și-rim ib-ta-ni

ma-ta-a-tum ap-pa-ri a-pu-um-ma

lit-tu pu-ur-ša me-ru la-ah-ru pu-had-sa im-mir su-pu-ri ki-ra-tu u ki-ša-tu-ma

30 a-tu-du šap-pa-ri is-sa-as-ru-šu

be-lum (ilu) Marduk ina pa-at tam-tim tam-la-a u-mal-li [. . .] a-pa na-ma-la iš-ku-un

Bricks he laid, a mould he fashioned;
Houses he made, cities he built;
Cities he made, creatures he created.
Nippur he made, E-kur he built;
40 Erech he made, E-ana he built.

336

[The remainder of the obverse and the beginning of the reverse of the tablet are wanting. The latter part of the reverse contains an incantation.]

.] uš-tab-ši

[ka-na-a ib-t]a-ni i-sa ib-ta-ni

Jina aš-ri ib-ta-ni
li-bit-tu id-di na-all-ban-tu ib-ta-ni
[bitu e-pu-uš ala ib-ta-ni]

[ala e-pu-uš nam-maš-šu-u iš-t]a-kan [Ni-ip-pu-ru e-pu-uš] E-kur ib-ta-ni 40 [U-ruk e-pu-uš E-an-na] ib-ta-ni.

6. THE CREATION OF CATTLE AND BEASTS 1 This small Assyrian text, which probably belonged to Ashurbanipal's library, refers only incidentally to the creation of cattle and beasts, its main object being to chronicle the creation of two small creatures, who were formed by Nin-igi-azag at the time when the larger animals were made. George Smith thought that this text might have formed a part of the seventh tablet of the Creation series, but King has shown this to be incorrect.

When the gods in their assembly had made the [heavens?]

The text is published in Delitzsch, Assyrische Lesestücke, 3te Auf., p. 94f., and by King, in Cuneiform Texts, xiii, 34. It is translated by Zimmern, in Gunkel, Schöpfung und Chaos, p. 415; Jensen, Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, vi, 1, p. 42f.; King, The Seven Tablets of Creation, i, pp. 122ff.; Dhorme, Choix de Textes Religieux Assyro-Babyloniens, p. 96f.; Jeremias, Das Alte Testament im Lichte des Alten Orients, p. 170; Ungnad in Gressmann, Altorientalische Texte und Bilder, i, p. 26.

e-nu-ma ilâni i-na pu-uh-ri-šu-nu ib-nu-u [. .]

and settled the

Had formed the firmament, and

[earth],

Living things [of all kinds] had brought into life,

And had made the cattle of the field, and the

beasts of the field, and the moving things of the city

5 After [.